Spin-a-flu: a media panic with economic implications
Published: 07 May, 2009, 11:24
Edited: 10 February, 2010, 12:08
Swine flu is advancing on us from Mexico. The Mexican government has already pronounced the epidemic as being contained.
You're correct I suppose - but do governments and the WHO have the luxury in these cases? I mean, were they to say 'no panic' or not prepare and there were some form of catastrophe then they would be for it etc; and if they do what they're doing now then in some ways they can only be counter-productive. To put the latter more succinctly: the more successful they are - the less the threat will ever appear to have been. Surely its our duty to judge what they say, but still for them (not to scaremonger purposely) to keep us aware of preparedness and worse-case scenarios...
We should not underestimate it either. 7th May the latest figures to come out of the WHO are quite disturbing. The number of new confirmed cases is 2099, up from 1516 reported on 6th May. This 583 jump is a 500% increase on previous days which were steady at about a 100 new cases a day. Without wanting to sound alarming, one has to question how much of the 'mildness' we are seeing is in fact a result of getting every suspect case on the planet an antiviral treament in time. The number of deaths has dropped to almost zero, thank goodness, but the early patients in Mexico didn't get antivirals. It was killing something like one in 35 cases (2.8%). This compares to 1918 at 2.75%. Let's all just keep an eye on at least the most conservative estimates (like the WHO) and get on with our business and home preparations in the meantime. Nigel Thomas. Bird Flu Manual Online. 2009 H1N1 Flu preparedness for businesses.